Peter - Failure and Overcoming

Teaching by Rev. Coleman Tyler
March 1, 2002

When I was in seminary part of my field work was to serve as Chaplain for a hospital and Walter, one of the patients, asked me one day "Do you know who I am?" and I said, "Yes, you are Walter." Then he asked me "Do you know who you are?" and I had to stop and think before I answered. This is a question we ought to be asking ourselves on a regular basis. Apart from Christ, we are nothing. With Christ we are blessed [Eph 1:3], chosen, holy and blameless [vs. 4], adopted [vs.5] redeemed and forgiven [vs.7]

In John 13, Jesus wanted to help Peter know who he (Peter) is.
In verses 1-3 Jesus notes five things about Himself (Jesus):

Purpose	His hour (the cross) had come. Jesus' life was not taken from him because He offered it up for our sins.
Passion	Love, sacrificial love for His people
Power	All things were placed in His hands, so Jesus was still in control but he voluntarily laid this aside.
Origin	He came from God, he was there in the beginning... nothing that was made was made without him.
Destination	He was going back to God and He knew it (the work He was sent to do) would be finished on the cross but it would not be the end of His life.

How would you answer these things for your life?
... what is your purpose, passion, power, origin and destination? For me its:

Purpose	To be in God's presence and to worship and adore Him
Passion	To see the world turned upside down by Christians who are turned inside out for Christ's sake
Power	That is not of my own might by but by the spirit of the Lord.
Origin	That I come from God and that this was not a mistake, it was planned before I was born.
Destination	I am passing through this way to our true home which is in heaven.

Jesus knew what was coming and in his last moments he stoops to serve by washing the disciples feet. [John 13:4-5 "...so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him..."] Notice that he rose and laid aside his majesty, took on the mantel of humility, poured out blood and water for us on the cross and washed us clean. He stooped to serve and conquer.

Now Peter didn't want Jesus to wash his feet. This was a pride thing for Peter... either he was too proud or did not feel worthy. Jesus said, if I don't wash you then you won't have anything to do with me. Peter then said wash all of me, that is a complete bath.

Bathing and washing: He who has bathed needs only to wash.

"Louein" is to take a bath, that is to cover the body with water -- an overall cleansing.

"Niptein" is to wash a part of the body -- localized cleansing.

To become a Christian you need a bath. When we confess our sins to Jesus and ask him to forgive us we get a spiritual bath to cleanse us. After that we need many washings in order to keep the accounts short. Baptism is a bath, communion is a washing.

We are not only cleansed we are called (to serve). In John 13:13 Jesus tells us to wash the feet of (that is serve) others. What does it mean to wash the feet of others in today's terms? We do it by loving others, comforting a friend, spending time with a person who you don't particularly like. So remember you are cleansed and called.

Who can you serve today? When you know you are a "nobody" who is called, you will know you will be empowered by God to serve others.

In Luke 22 it talks about how Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed. If he was to talk about his failure he would tell you that he failed continually at various levels. He said he would not deny Jesus, that he would not let Jesus wash his feet, and he even pulled out his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane and cut off the servant of the high priest's ear. Then, after they took Jesus' life he thought all was lost. When the women came to him he thought that someone had stolen the body. But in Mark 16:7 Jesus singled out Peter, that he would be told that He was alive. ["...But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you...' "] But later he ate with Jesus. Can you imagine being Peter fishing and knowing Jesus was on the shore calling for you after he had denied him three times. You'd probably want to just slip away. But instead of judging Peter, Jesus commissions him. Three times he tells Peter to "feed his sheep." He showed compassion and grace.

But don't think you can live your life the old way and then count upon Jesus to forgive you. This is presumption. Don't sin presuming that Jesus will forgive you. Jesus' forgiveness is not an excuse to allow sin in your life. The grace of God is not available as a quick way to get out of a willful sinful way of life. There are painful consequences of sin and failure. Whatever we sow we shall reap.

Review your life honestly, evaluate what you've done and confess your sin.

Repent of your sins, that means turn from them, change your mind and direction.

Reaffirm your trust in Jesus.

Release yourself into the love of God and His forgiveness.

And of you think you are a failure... here are seven truths concerning failures

1. Failure isn't final

2. Failure doesn't mean you're a failure; it just means you haven't yet succeeded.

3. The only time you can't afford to fail is the very last time you try.

4. Failure doesn't mean you've accomplished nothing; it just means you've learned something.

5. Failure doesn't mean you've been a fool; it just means you have made a costly mistake, and can learn a great lesson through it.

6. Failure doesn't mean you don't have what it takes; it just means you need to persevere, and do things differently next time.

7. Failure doesn't mean you're inferior; it just means you're not perfect.